Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 78
78
( 2026)
SPONSOR CONTENT
Labatt’s updated head office helps foster creativity
W
hen Kennedy
Charuk first
joined Labatt
Breweries of
Canada in 2021
during the pandemic, everything
from onboarding to her day-to-day
work was online. In 2023, a year
after company offices re-opened,
she decided to explore another
opportunity. Over time, though,
she realized that something was
missing. “That ‘something’ was
the culture and connection I had
here at Labatt,” recalls Charuk.
The goal was to
optimize our new space
to make sure that
employees experience
Labatt’s team-oriented
and innovative culture
in person and together.
— Bea Grubesic
Vice-President, People
Labatt Breweries of Canada prioritizes collaboration, optimizing its office to ensure employees have the
space needed to work together.
So, she returned to the company,
eventually stepping into the office
experience manager role, with the
task of opening a new expanded
office at the company’s Toronto
head office. “Now my role is to
cultivate an engaging workplace
environment that encourages
employees to connect and unlock
creativity together, while aiming
to improve their experience in the
office. I’ve seen how when people
collaborate, they can inspire each
other to achieve great things,”
Charuk says.
Her perspective makes her
well-suited for the role, says Bea
Grubesic, vice-president, people.
“Our culture is crucial to our
success, and it is crucial that our
people see it and live it,” Grubesic
says. “Being present, being
together, you get to experience
the culture. You get to collaborate
with others, get inspired, get in
tune not just among ourselves, but
with what’s happening outside our
walls among consumers.”
Following the 2024 change in
Ontario regulations allowing
beer to be sold in convenience
stores, an expanding Labatt hired
almost 100 new employees in the
province. The situation created
both a need for the new floor of
workspace in Toronto and an
opportunity, says Grubesic.
“Not just more space for
personal workstations and team
meeting rooms but an overall
more collaborative and inspiring
space,” she says. “The goal was to
optimize our new space to make
sure that employees experience
Labatt’s team-oriented and
innovative culture in person and
together.”
As office experience manager,
Charuk was part of the expansion
project from the start. “After we
secured the space in March, we
all jumped in and started the
process,” she says. “We collected
a lot of feedback from employees
and incorporated that into our
plans. We wanted to ensure our
new space would provide places
for employees to collaborate and
meet away from their desks — all
with a great lakefront view.”
Charuk manages the office
operationally, which she
summarizes as “making sure the
lights stay on,” and is also co-lead
